"Time keeps on slippin' slippin' ... into the future ..." -- "Fly Like An Eagle" by Steve Miller Band
One of the toughest things to replicate in a tabletop football game is the timing of plays. If you keep it simple (which is what many gamers want), you end up with game-end and quarter-end situations that seem forced; there's usually just one play left, period, when we've all seen games where there's two plays' worth of plays in that short amount of time.
For the outdoor game, I'm hoping to come up with a simplified, but realistic, timing system that isn't tied to plays that are "worth" some multiple of five, ten, or fifteen seconds. So, I ran a query on my play-by-play database and came up with some interesting numbers ...
KICKOFF RETURNS
With the kickoff and return, here's the "breakdown" of how long it takes to run a kickoff and the ensuing return:
Returns of 31 yards or less: 6 seconds
Returns of 32-48 yards: 7 seconds
Returns of 49-65 yards: 8 seconds
Returns of 66-82 yards: 9 seconds
Returns of 83-99 yards: 10 seconds
Returns of 100 yards or more: 11 seconds
PASSING
Completed passes in no-huddle offense .... normal huddle offense
Deep left/right: 12 seconds ... 15 seconds
Deep middle: 16 seconds ... 18 seconds
Short left/right: 18 seconds ... 22 seconds
Short middle: 19 seconds ... 23 seconds
PUNT RETURNS
Fair catch ... 8 seconds
Returns of 9 yards or less: 11 seconds
Returns of 10-17 yards: 12 seconds
Returns of 18-25 yards: 13 seconds
Returns of 26-34 yards: 14 seconds
Returns of 35-45 yards: 15 seconds
Returns of 46-56 yards: 16 seconds
Returns of 57-67 yards: 17 seconds
Returns of 68-78 yards: 18 seconds
Returns of 79-89 yards: 19 seconds
Returns of 90 yards or more: 20 seconds
Field goal attempts: 4 seconds
On-side kickoff: 3 seconds
Running play, normal huddle: 34 seconds
Running play, no-huddle: 30 seconds
All of these can be further split. For example:
PASSING, NORMAL HUDDLE
Incomplete: 9 seconds
Complete: 31 seconds
PASSING, NO HUDDLE
Incomplete: 8 seconds
Complete: 25 seconds
We can also determine the timing of intercepted pass plays and their returns, fumbles and those returns, field goals by distance, etc. We can look at the timing of plays in the two-minute windows, as well as the timing of plays right after a timeout or right before a timeout.
Lots of things to look at as I try to incorporate as much about the real game as I can into the tabletop version without slowing things down without purpose. What do you think? Use the comments below to share your thoughts and ideas ...
Interesting research. That said, I've never had a problem with the simple approach to game timing that games like second season take. Unless we are talking about the last 2 minutes of the game, then I am fine with 15s for any plays that stop the clock and 30s for all other plays. Inside of 2m, the hurry up takes those numbers down to 25s and 10s. Add a 5s option for spikes and that's it.
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, if you want to get fancier, that's fine, but multiples of 5 would be nice.
Part of what I hope to do is create a more "realistic" timing system that is also easy to remember. I'd love for the last play(s) of the game to have, say, 11 seconds left and then, based on the result, maybe you get a second play in with 2 seconds left. Or, you run a sideline route to set up a field goal. When you go in multiples, you're generally left with just one option with just time for one more play ... and I'd love to see this game step beyond that ...
ReplyDeleteThen by all means!!! That sounds great. :)
ReplyDelete